Safety appliance.



W. W. TAYLOR.

SAFETY APPLIANCE. APPLICATION FILED JULY'23. 1917.

Patented A pr. 29, 1919.

INVENTOR fifzZZz'am Wfayia 4 TTORNEY WILLIAM W. TAYLOR, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W.- TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas' City, in the county of Jackson and State of; Missouri, have invented certain new 7 and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances, of which the following is a specification. a

My invention relates to improvements in safety appliances, and'my principal object is .to provide means for preventing motormen from starting cars until thedoors thereof have been closed, thus preventing accidents due to the motorman starting his car while passengers are boarding or alighting.

Other objects will hereinafter appear, and in order that the invention may be fully understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a horizontal, sectional view of an electric car equipped with my safety appliance.

Fig. 2 isa planview of the car controller and that portion of the safety appliance supported by said controller.

Fig. 3 is a broken elevation of the controller with a portion of the safety appliance in vertical, longitudinal section.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line IVIV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section, enlarged, on line V-V of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a diagram of the safety appliance, its circuit, and associated parts.

Fig. 7 is an elevation of a controller with a modified form of appliance supported thereby.

A designates an electric car provided with the customary rear doors B, which open outwardly as indicated by the dotted lines, Fig. 6. Said car A is provided at its forward end with the usual electric controller C, which .is manually actuated through the intermediacy of the customary handle D, adapted to be rotated through an arc limited by lugs E and F, projecting upwardly from the top of the controller C. All of the foregoing is of usual construction.

In carrying out my invention, -I employ a case 1 which is secured to one side of the controller 0, so as not to be in the way of the motorman. Within the case 1 is a solenoid 3, provided with a core 5, having a marginal flange 6 at one end and a sto 7 at its opposite end. The stop 7 has a have outer I Specification of Letters Patent.

.- Application mea'm 23,1917. Serial No. 182,334.

which will hereinafter appear. An arm 20,

SAFETY APPLIANCE.

Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

off position when, said stop is out in the path of said handle. A spring 9 is interposed be tween the flange 6 and the adjacent end of the solenoid coil 10 to quickly retract and hold the core 5 and the stop 7, in inoperative position when the solenoid coil 10 is de'nergized. a

11 designates a signal bell within the case 1 and arranged in the path of the core '5, -in order to be sounded thereby when the solenoid is deenergized.

14 designates a signal lampv arranged in the case 1 beneath a sight opening 16 in the top of said case. A small pane of glass 18 in the case 1 is interposed between the signal lamp 14 and the sight opening 16. One- -half of the glass 18 is, preferably, colored red and the other half green for a purpose secured to the flange 6 of the solenoid core 55, carries the glass 18 to shift the same beneath the sight opening 16, to alternately display the red and green colors of said glass.

22 designates a circuit closer controlled by the rear doors B of the car. Said circuit closer 22 consists of a contact point 2 1 and a spring contact 26, secured to the framework of the car adjacent one of the doors B, which latter is provided with a block of insulation '28, to hold the contact 26.0ut of engagement with the point 24 when the car doors B are in closed position. The circuit closer 22, the lamp 1 1, and the solenoid 3 are in a circuit consisting of wires 30, 31 and 32. The wires 31 and 32 are connected to any suitable source of electrical energy, such as a battery or the trolley of the car.

Should the conductor for any reason open the doors B while the car is in motion, the motorman can, if he desires, throw the handle D to the off position, as said handle on striking the beveled end 8 of the stop 7, will force the latter back out of the way.

In practice, the green portion of the glass 18 is normally exposed at the sight opening 16 to indicate that the doors B are closed and the motorman may proceed with safety. The stop 7 is also out of the path of the controller handle D, so that the same may berotated to the right and left as desired. However, when the car is stopped to allow passengers to board or alight, the opening of the doors B allows the spring contact 26 to terminal 8, to allow the handle D to moveto U engage the point, 24. and close the circuit through the wires 30, 31 and 82. This energizes the solenoid coil 10, whereupon the resistanc-e of spring 9 is overcome as the core 5 carries the stop 7 forwardly into the path. of the handle D and secures the same in off P ss n; the red portion of the glass 18 in coincidence with the sight opening 16', which-is illumi-I nated by the lamp 14 to provide a visual signal wlrih indicates to the motorman that the doors B are open and that liq-attempt sliould be made to start the car.v After the passengers" have safely boarded pr alighted the doors B are closed. This operation opens the circuit closer 22 and interrupts the circuit through the wires 30, 31 and 32; Interruption of the circuit extinguishes the lamp 14a and deenerg'i zes the solenoid 3,. allowing the spring 9 to retract the core 5 and Withdraw the stop 7 from in front of the controller handle D, so that the same-may be rotated to the left to start the car. As, the spring 9 retracts the solenoid core 5, the latter strikes the bell '11, thus signaling to the motorman tostart the car. Retraction of the core 5' also shifts the glass 18 until its green or'safety portion appears beneath the sight opening 16, thereby indicating that the doorsB are closed; In certain instances it may be necessary or desirable vto impart a longer movement to the stop 7, to throw it in and out of the path of the controller handle B'. In such cases; I attain thedesired movement by interposing a lever 28 (Fig. 7) between the sto'", 7- and the solenoid core5 g 11 other occasions, such, for instance, as when the conductor leaves the car to throw a switch, it is desirable to start the car while the rear doors are open. This may be done after deenergiizing' the" solenoid by opening a manual switch 40 connected to the circuit parent that I have produced a simple, inexpensive, and efiicient appliance whereby acier'red arrange apparent that changes 1n arrangement, loca- Movement of the core 5 brings cidents due to iiiiitoi 'nfeii startingcarslbefore fully the rear doors are closed, have'been overcome and wh-del have shown a preent of the appliance, it is tion, and combination of parts may be efi'ectedwithm the spirit and scope of the claims. Having thus described my inventibn,'what I claim and-desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: g

1. In combination with acarand itsicontrol ler a member to hold the centroller handle in oif p'os'itioin-jawcase mounted on the controller and provided with a sight opening, electrically-controiledmea s withi'ri said case for actuating the member to hold the controller mem'briii oifposition, a'two colored signal glass arranged to be shiftedibeneath the sight opening in thecase by said electrically-controlled means, a circuit for energizingsaid electideally-controlledmeans, and means 01 opening closing said circuit.- 1

2. In combination with a car and its controller, a stop" to hold the controller handle in off position, a core fixed atone end to said stop, an arm carriedby said core, a two colored signal glass carried by said arm',='a case inclosing the stop, the core and the signal glass and provided' with' asightopening, a

spring to normally hold the stop out of the path of the controller handle and expose one color of the" glass at the sightopeiiing; 5. 011 surrounding the: core, I a circuit to energize said coil, cause the 1co-1e' to: move the stopzin the path of the controller handle and eiipose the. other color of the glass" atthefsight opening, a circuitcl'oserto"closesaid circuit," and means on the; car door' to open said circuit closer when the door is closed."

In testimony whereof I" aiiizr my signature, I

in the presence of two w'iti'iessesa 1 r WILLIAM-W. TAYLOR.

Witnessesi 1 ,5 I F: G; FISCHER,-

J.- FISCHER.

I of fii'mi't'iiliditeobtained for cents gs-e1 pz iddressing-ethel G61h1 nissio1 1er or WaShingtomRO." j a 

